I haven't had the 2004, but the Worthy (second label of Axios) Sophia's Cuvee is generally a very ripe, forward, thick CalCab. Not a style I drink often, but sometimes I like with a steak, and the Worthy is better (to me) than a lot of similarly priced Cabs.

Haven't had that Gew, but Schoffit is usually pretty good. Others like Albrecht more than I.

I've tasted Summers cabs at the winery. Not really my style of Napa Cab (it's at the upper, hot end of the Valley). Very fruit forward, jammy. oaky? None of the secondary flavors that you find in even very young cabs that I prefer.

...(Humans) are unique in our capacity to construct realities at utter odds with reality. Dogs dream and dolphins imagine, but only humans are deluded. –Jacob Bacharach

I'm not sure it's the same wine, but we sell the 2005 Steininger GV Grand Cru. I'm not sure you'd call the label odd, but the wine is closed with a glass "cork". I've tasted the wine a couple of times and think it's delicious, peppery, and long. It's pretty ripe for a GV and has something like 25% new wood, so it might not be for everyone. I enjoy it, though, and the people I've recommended it to have come back to buy more!

Doug House wrote:I'm not sure it's the same wine, but we sell the 2005 Steininger GV Grand Cru. I'm not sure you'd call the label odd, but the wine is closed with a glass "cork". I've tasted the wine a couple of times and think it's delicious, peppery, and long. It's pretty ripe for a GV and has something like 25% new wood, so it might not be for everyone. I enjoy it, though, and the people I've recommended it to have come back to buy more!

If this is the Steven Holl (Holl is an architect, and did the drawing on the label), I had a bottle about a month ago. We opened this at dinner in a local BYOB restaurant. That night I thought is was a very good, though not particularly distinctive, wine that was worth the $16 it cost in Pennsylvania. About a glass was left over, and I enjoyed it even more the second day, when it showed some interesting, subtle notes on the palate.

This bottle had an interesting closure, by the way. It had a glass stopper with a little rubbery/silicone-like stuff around it to make a seal with the bottle.

Ditto what Dale said on the Worthy "Sophie's." The Ch. Bel Air is a very nice, relatively inexpensive cru bourgeios that I've enjoyed from several vintages. Had a 2000 about a month ago that was drinking very well.

Jane, thanks for the online welcome, and I hope you're doing well. I've actually been hanging around this board on and off (mainly the latter, I'm afraid) for nearly 10 years now. I've recently dropped out of consulting to work in a wine store for a while, and I'm hoping that will prompt me to get more active in this community.

Colin and a few others continue to be looking for ways to get a tasting group going on a regular basis, so keep an eye out -- perhaps we'll catch up at an offline again soon!